Footwear



July 21, E F RQBERTS FOOTWEAR Filed Dec. 3, 1952 Patented July 21, 1936 Q PATENT OFFICE "2,048,294 FOOTWEAR Edward F. Roberts, Mamaroneck, N. Y., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey I Application December 3, 1932, Serial No. 645,534

3 Claims. (Cl. 36-55) This invention relates to footwear, and more particularly to relatively low cut shoes of the oxford or pump type.

When shoes are worn over a'period of time, and more particularly light weight shoes; they tend to lose their shape due to the gradual stretching of the leather in those portions of the shoe that are subjected to the greatest strain. This stretch of the shoe is probably most noticeable in the pump or low-cut type of shoe in which the tension resulting from the original size of the foot-receiving opening and'the pressure of the throat of the shoe across the top of the foot are relied upon to hold the shoe in place upon the foot and keep it from gapping at the sides and sliding up and down at the heel. In these shoes, in'which no adjustable fastening means are provided for holding the shoe upon the foot, a small amount of stretch about the foot-receiving opening will destroy the snug fit and neat appearance of the shoe.

In the manufacture of footwear by the usual welt, turn, or'MacKay processes, shoes, oxfords, pumps and the like are constructed mainly with an outsole, heel, upper, counter, insole, toe lining and quarter lining properly assembled. The outsole and insole are generally made of leather or leather-like material and the heel of leather or wood with a leather lift. The upper usually is made from a soft leather or fabric material. The counters which should be permanently stiff are made from leather or impregnated fibrous material. The toe lining is commonly made of a fabric material, such as cotton cloth, and the quarter lining of fabric or leather, and sometimes of leather with fabric inserts. Elastic fabrics have been suggested as inserts in the sides of uppers in order to provide an article of footwear which may be easilyput on and removed from the foot without the necessity of lacing or buttoning the shoes. Such a construction has been used in the manufacture of so-called congress type shoes, especially for men. These elastic inserts, however, are visible from the exterior of the shoe and therefore detract from the appearance of the shoe. In relatively high cut ladies slippers as in the case of the so-called step-in operas, elastic gorings have been inserted across the vamp portion of the instep in order to provide a pump effect in a relatively high cut shoe, but in such cases a fabric or leather tongue or a buckle is used to cover up the goring since the elastic itself has more or less the appearance of ordinary garter material and if left uncovered detracts from the appearance of the finished article.

The present invention contemplates a shoe construction wherein forces tending to stretch or enlarge the foot-receiving opening are yieldingly resisted, and a contractive force is continuously exerted upon the portions of the shoe adjacent the foot-receiving opening to help in maintaining the shape of the shoe and its snug fitting properties over a long period of use. This is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by employing an elastic fabric at each side 10 of the shoe in the vicinity of the quarter. The elastic material is secured in the shoe in a slightly stretched condition and its contractive action serves to prevent bulging of the upper edge of the shoe at the sides of the foot and to improve the 15 fit and appearance of the shoe by causing the upper edge to conform more snugly to the foot.

Several embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a shoe construction with a Fig. 3 illustrates the construction of an elastic fabric material used in the shoes of Figs. 1 and 2; and

Fig. 4 is a detail view of a preferred type of elastic thread used in the manufacture of the elastic fabric materal.

According to the present invention articles of footwear are made by the common manufacturing methods of cutting and assembling the various parts, but with an improved quarter lining which may be composed entirely of an elastic fabric material, stretchable at least in the direction lengthwise of the shoe, or with a quarter lining of leather or inelastic fabric material in which are inserted at the two sides of the shoe a relatively long narrow insert of elastic fabric material stretchable at least in the direction lengthwise of the shoe. The elastic fabric used in the manufacture of the quarter lining is preferably a woven fabric material in which elastic threads form either the warp or the weft, and inelastic textile threads form the weft or warp respectively. If desired, inelastic threads may be alternated and woven with the elastic threads in either the warp or weft. It is Within the scope of the invention to utilize elastic threads either ,alone or together with inelastic threads in both {the warp and weft, in which case a fabric is provided which will stretch in the directions both of the warp and weft.

- and. 22.

In making the shoe, the elastic fabric, if stretchable in only one direction, is assembled so that the stretch is provided in the direction lengthwise of the shoe. If the quarter lining is to be composed entirely of the elastic fabric, the fabric is incorporated directly into the shoe in the manner of incorporating an ordinary leather or inelastic fabric quarter lining. If the elastic fabric is to be used for inserts in the sides of the shoe then the inelastic quarter lining is first made with the elastic inserts in the proper places in the fabric or leather quarter lining, and the quarter lining is then incorporated into the shoe in the usual manner. In either case the elastic fabric should have a short strong stretch and is placed in the shoe under slight tension and with its ends firmly secured in place.

The elastic fabric is secured to the upp r edge of the shoe and its ends are anchored at the heel end of the shoe and in the vicinity of the toe part of the shoe, and the action of the tensioned elastic fabric at each side of the foot is to pull the upper edge of the shoe inwardly against each side of the foot. This serves to prevent the objectionable bulging of the upper edge of the sides of the shoe which is so common in pumps and oxfords, particularly after they have been worn some time. Furthermore, the elastic fabric is employed at the inside of the shoe where it is concealed when the shoe is worn.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, l0 illustrates an outsole, II a heel, I2 upper, [3 a counter, M the insole of a conventional shoe construction. In Fig. 1 is illustrated a quarter lining composed entirely of the elastic fabric l5 assembled in the usual manner. In Fig. 2 is shown a quarter lining of inelastic fabric or leather material IS with a long thin strip of elastic fabric inserted in the quarter lining, the quarter lining being incorporated in the shoe in the usual manner of conventional quarter linings.

Fig. 3 illustrates one type of elastic fabric as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 in which either the warp or the weft is composed of inelastic textile threads 18 and the weft or warp respectively of elastic threads I9, the elastic thread being composed of a core of rubber covered with the same kind of textile material as is used for the inelastic threads and of substantially the same degree of fineness as the inelastic textile threads. Such a fabric simulates a material constructed entirely of inelastic textile threads and differs from such only in its capacity to stretch in the direction of the elastic threads.

The elastic thread used in the construction of the elastic fabric material is illustrated in detail in Fig. 4 and is preferably made as described in the patent to Percy Adamson No. 1,822,847, dated Sept. 8, 1931. The round core 20 is made directly from an aqueous dispersion of rubber and may be deposited from rubber latex, for example by extruding the latex through a nozzle into a bath of coagulant, removing the thus formed filamentary coagulum from the coagulating bath, drying and vulcanizing in a manner well known in the art and as described in the .patent to Hopkinson 8L Gibbons 1,545,257, dated July 7, 1925. The rubber core 20 is covered while under tension with right and left windings of textile threads 2| This preferred type of elastic thread may have a rubber core made directly from an aqueous dispersion of rubber by other processes than the extrusion process above described or may have a core cut from calendered sheet rubber or made by other well known processes of various elastic materials and of any cross-sectional shape desired, such elastic thread being covered with the desired textile material and constructed with the desired number of helical windings or braided or otherwise covered with textile material, if desired.

The elastic threads 19 when formed as here described may be quite small; that is, they may be less than one-fiftieth of an inch in diameter, and as a result the elastic and inelastic threads forming the fabric of Fig. 3 may have substantially the same degree of fineness. Such an elastic fabric is lighteight and is soft and flexible so that it will conform snugly to the curvature of the foot.

Elastic fabric used in the quarter lining may have either the warp or the weft composed entirely of elastic threads as shown in Fig. 3 with the weft or warp respectively composed entirely of inelastic textile threads. Both elastic and inelastic threads, alternated or otherwise combined, if desired, may be incorporated in either or both the warp and weft. Various combinations of elastic and inelastic threads may be utilized providing different constructions of elastic fabric for the various types of shoes in which they are to be incorporated. The elastic threads may be covered with the same kind of textile material as the inelastic .threads are composed of, which may be cotton, silk, artificial fibre, rayon or the like, or may be covered with a different kind of textile material. The incorporation of the elastic fabric in the quarter lining maintains the shape of the shoe indefinitely, and if the elastic threads are made with a rubber core derived directly from an aqueous dispersion of rubber as is preferred, due to the improved qualities of such rubber by virtue of its unbroken down condition, cleaning fluids, if used on an outer fabric of the shoe, for example, shoe cleaners, moisture and perspiration and the like, will have little or no detrimental eifect on the elastic material.

It will be seen from the foregoing that in the construction of Fig. 1 the entire quarter lining is formed of a highly flexible, elastic fabric that extends from the heel to a point near the vamp of the shoe, and this elastic fabric acts to exert a continuous contractive force lengthwise of the sides of the shoe. The effect of this is to cause the upper edges of these sides to attempt to assume a straight line position from a point near the curvature of the heel to a point near the curvature of the vamp, or in other words to cause these sides to attempt to move inwardly from their upper edge down a slight distance towards the shank into substantially parallel relation to each other. This is just what is desired to cause the upper edges of the shoe to hug or snugly engage the sides of the foot, instead of gapping away from the sides of the foot as frequently happened heretofore. In the modified construction of Fig. 2 employing the long narrow elastic strip ll the same desired snug engagement of the upper edges of the shoe with the foot is secured.

In view of the many changes and modifications that may be made without departing from the principles underlying the invention, reference should be made to the appended claims for a clear understanding of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A low shoe of the step-in or pump type adapted to have its upper edge prevented from bulging or gapping at the sides of the foot, hav- 75 ing in its construction a piece of elastic fabric formed of fine elastic yarn and secured in a longitudinally tensioned condition inside the shoe along each quarter and having one end anchored at the heel part of the shoe and its other end anchored in the vamp area, and its upper edge secured to the upper edge of the shoe, whereby the tension of the elastic fabric serves to hold the upper edge of the shoe snugly against the sides of the foot.

2. A low shoe adapted to have its upper edge prevented from bulging or gapping at the sides of the foot, having in its construction an outer wall, a piece of elastic fabric secured inside the shoe along each quarter in a slightly stretched condition and having one end anchored at the heel part of the shoe and its other end anchored in the vamp area, and its upper edge secured to the upper edge of the outer wall of the shoe,

whereby the tension of the elastic fabric serves the sides of the foot.

3. A low shoe adapted to have its upper edge prevented from bulging or gapping at the sides of the foot, having in its construction an outer wall, a relatively wide piece of woven elastic lining secured inside the shoe along each quarter in a tensioned condition to extend downwardly a substantial distance towards the sole of the shoe and each piece having one end anchored in the vicinity of the heel part of the shoe and its other end anchored in the vamp area, and its upper edge secured to the upper edge of the outer wall of the shoe, whereby the tension of the elastic lining acts to hold the upper edge portion of the shoe in snug engagement with the foot and prevent the shoe from gapping at the sides.

EDWARD F. ROBERTS. 

